Canadian pilot project using DEGERenergie systems is finalist for the "Agricultural Awards of Excellence"

Horb a.N. / Innerkip (Ontario, Canada), October 15, 2009. The Canadian pilot project of operating company Arntjen Solar, the SunSaver 1 solar farm in Innerkip, Ontario, has been nominated for the coveted Canadian "Agricultural Awards of Excellence", to be awarded in April 2010. Arntjen Solar, a subsidiary of Arntjen Group International, specializes in selling photovoltaic systems. DEGERenergie is global market leader in the field of tracking systems for solar plants.

The first photovoltaic modules of the SunSaver1 solar farm in Innerkip have been feeding electricity into the public grid since February 2009. This pilot project, managed by Arntjen Solar, has a contract under the Standard Offer Program of the Ontario Power Authority, which guarantees operators 0.42 Canadian dollars per kilowatt hour (kWh) over 20 years for supplying solar power. At the same time, this project is aligned with the political environment in Ontario which allows smaller solar farms up to 100 kWp on prime agricultural land.

Rolf Maurer, Vice President for Arntjen Solar, North America: "The current Feed-in-Tariff Program calls for manageable projects on prime agricultural land that can be financed and operated by smaller communities, agricultural operators or associations. We have planned our SunSaver1 pilot project with this in mind."

The final stage will see the SunSaver1 solar park made up of 568 mono-Si solar modules mounted on twelve trackers from DEGERenergie, achieving a capacity of 115 kWp. The entire project covers about a hectare of land. The annual solar power production will reach up to 200 MWh when at full operational capacity. At the same time, SunSaver1 will reduce greenhouse gas emissions (CO2) by up to 98 tons a year.

Arntjen Solar is relying on the large 10 kWp DEGERtraker 7000NT for this project in Innerkip. Up to 46 percent additional electrical yields can be achieved using sensor controlled tracking technology from DEGERenergie, compared to fixed systems. This is backed up by revenue-meter data collected at the SunSaver1 solar farm which is absolutely in line with RETScreen data provided by the Ministry of Natural Resource Canada.

Artur Deger, founder and managing director of DEGERenergie: "These kinds of high surplus yields can't be achieved with astronomically controlled systems or other types of tracking systems. As far as we know, tracking systems equipped with the patented DEGERconecter control module generate the highest yields worldwide."

Sensor controlled systems from DEGERenergie always automatically align the solar modules to the brightest, and therefore most energy-rich, point in the sky. The core of this intelligent control is the patented DEGERconecter control module developed by DEGERenergie. It continually measures the intensity and angle of incident light rays. This means that even reflected light or diffuse sunlight penetrating through clouds is taken into account when aligning the solar modules. The result: The connected solar module really does always absorb the highest possible amount of energy and discharges it as useful power.

In contrast, according to information from the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems (Fraunhofer ISE), dual axis tracking systems that work on the basis of astronomical data achieve up to 28 percent more yield than fixed solar modules. "If we compare this value with the yields achieved by our technology then we see that the surplus yield achieved by our sensor-controlled tracking systems is around 70 percent higher than the yield achieved by astronomical systems," says Artur Deger.

No wonder the operator of the SunSaver1 solar farm has chosen to use technology from DEGERenergie. And no wonder that this Canadian project has now been nominated for the "Agricultural Awards of Excellence" in the categorie „Innovation“. The winner of the „Agricultural Award of Excellence“ will be announced in April 2010.

For more information please visit: www.DEGERenergie.com.

Note to the editor:
Further information and image material are available on request from:
Herbert Grab, Tel.: +49 (0) 7127-5707-10, E-mail: herbert.grab@digitmedia-online.de.

About DEGERenergie (www.DEGERenergie.com)

DEGERenergie is an international corporation with its headquarters in Horb am Neckar, Germany. The company was founded in 1999 by Artur Deger, and today is the world leader in solar tracking systems with more than 25,000 installations in 38 countries. Since its founding, DEGERenergie has grown at a staggering pace. In only three years from 2006 to 2008 it grew from 3 million Euros to more than 40 million Euros. The company directly employs 40 people, plus an additional 340 subcontractors.

At the center of DEGERenergie's business are the construction, development, and production of tracking systems for photovoltaic models of solar technology. From the start these tracking systems sought to utilize the sun's energy and solar technologies better than was possible with static systems. Sites using DEGERenergie systems can achieve up to a 45 percent higher energy return. The patented control module, DEGERconecter, was awarded with the Inventor's Prize in 2001 from the German state of Baden-Württemberg, and is in use in 48,000 installations worldwide.

Sales:
Peter M. Scherer
Vice President Sales
DEGERenergie GmbH
Industriestraße 70
72160 Horb
Tel.: +49 (0) 7451-539 14-0
Fax: +49 (0) 7451-539 14-10
Mail: sales@DEGERenergie.com

Press:
Herbert Grab
digit media
Schulberg 5
D-72124 Pliezhausen
Tel.: +49 (0) 7127-5707-10
Mail: herbert.grab@digitmedia-online.de

This release was published on openPR.